Written by

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

Detroit Mayor-elect Mike Duggan, who is set to take office in a matter of days, named three new top administrators Monday.

Jonathan Jackson, a Detroit native and 25-year firefighter who is now second deputy fire commissioner, will be interim fire commissioner while Duggan conducts a six-month national search for a permanent leader of the department.

Duggan also announced he is nominating longtime friend and lawyer Melvin (Butch) Hollowell as corporation counsel, the city’s top lawyer. And current corporation counsel Portia Roberson, an appointee of outgoing Mayor Dave Bing, will lead a Civil Rights and Ethics Division that Duggan plans to create.

Jackson’s appointment is subject to confirmation of the Detroit City Council. Duggan said he hopes Jackson also will be a candidate to permanently replace fire commissioner Don Austin, who recently announced he was resigning effective Dec. 31.

Jackson said he planned to reappoint Edsel Jenkins, a 26-year veteran, as deputy fire commissioner and Sydney Zack as second deputy commissioner for human resources, labor and EMS.

Jackson also planned to promote two fire department veterans: Craig Dougherty as second deputy commissioner for firefighting operations and apparatus repair, and Orlando Gregory as second deputy commissioner for training and the fire marshal division.

Duggan said he would rely on Hollowell to “be much more aggressive in defending the city against the hundreds of lawsuits we face each year,” costing Detroit $19 million in liability payments annually.

Hollowell served as chief legal counsel for Duggan’s mayoral campaign and has been general counsel for the Detroit Branch NAACP and co-chairman of the state Democratic Party. He ran for Secretary of State in 2002, losing to Republican Terri Lynn Land.

Hollowell said he would name Chuck Raimi as deputy corporation counsel. Raimi worked for the Bodman law firm for 22 years and was deputy general counsel to the Detroit Medical Center in 2004-2012, during much of Duggan’s tenure as CEO of the hospital system.

Roberson is a former assistant Wayne County prosecutor and served in the U.S. Justice Department in the Obama administration. Duggan said the new Civil Rights and Ethics Division she will lead will promote honesty and integrity in his administration.